LONDON (AP) — Actor Bernard Hill, who delivered a rousing cry before leading his people into battle in “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” and went down with the ship as the ꦕ😼captain in “Titanic,” has died.
Hill, 79, passed away Sunday mor🎀ning, agent Lou Coulson said.
Hill joined “The Lord Of The Rings” franchise in the second film of the trilogy, 2002′s “The Two Towers,” as Théoden, King of Rohan. The fol🉐lowing year, he🌟 reprised the role in “Return of the King,” a movie that won 11 Oscars.
In one of the film’s most memorable scenes, Hill’s character fires up꧃ his overmatched forces by delivering a battle cry on horseback that sends his troops thundering downhill toward the enemy and his own imminent death.
“Arise, arise, riders of Théoden!” Hill hollers. “Spears shall be shaken, shields shall be splintered! A sword day, a red day, ere the sun rises! R♔ide now! Ride now!ꦿ Ride! Ride for ruin and the world’s ending! Death! Death! Death!”
In “Titanic,” Hill played Captain Edward Smith, one of the only char𒐪acters based on a real person in the 1997 tragic romance starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. The film also won 11 Academy Awar💞ds.
As the doomed ship takes on water, Hill’s character silently retreats to the wheelhouse. As the cabin groans under the pressure of the waves, he takes a final breath and grabs the wheelꦬ as water bursts throu♛gh the windows.
Hill 🀅first made a name for himself as Yosser Hughes in “Boys From the Blackstuff,” a 1982 British TV miniseries about five unemployed men.
He was nominated for an award in 1983 from the Br🥂itish Academy of Film and Television Arts for the role, and the show won the BAFTA for best drama series.
His death came the same day the second series of the BBC dram𒉰a “The Responder” was to air, in which he played the father of the ꦜshow’s star, Martin Freeman.
“Bernard Hill blazed a trail across the screen, and his long-lasting career filled with iconic and remarkable roles is a testament to his incre🦹dible talent, sai♋d Lindsay Salt, director of BBC Drama. “Our thoughts are with his loved ones at this sad time.”